Harmony

Harmony is an inside job. Peace is an inside job. Misery is an inside job.

Shortly after being invited to speak on Harmony at the 2015 T’ai Chi Chih teacher conference, I received three black and white images in my mind’s eye during my morning TCC practice. I had a very strong feeling that these images were related to my presentation.

The first image was a big, black fly and I thought to myself, ”Ewwwww. What is that?” Then I heard inside my head, “There’s a fly in your soup. How do you respond?”

I began to ponder the implications. Would I respond (e.g., “Waiter, there’s a fly in my soup, may I please have another bowl?”) or react (e.g., How disgusting. What kind of place is this? My whole meal is ruined.) Responding to the situation cultivates a state of harmony. Reacting cultivates a state of disharmony.

The mind began to roll with other possibilities. Who and what are “the flies” in my life? Do I respond or react to them? Am I the fly in someone else’s life? What if the fly simply represents my Shadow. How do I respond to that? Do I swat at it, hoping it goes away? Or do I take a look at it? Suppose, if we allow ourselves to get closer to and look at our shadow/fly, it actually becomes a peephole into the Universe at large revealing great Truths…

The second image I received was a white splat on a black background. The first thing that came to mind was white paint on black wool pants. Since this is hard to clean and it’s summer, I switched the symbolism to white bird poop on black linen pants.

I continued with the same series of questions. Who or what is the bird poop in my life? Do I respond or react? …

Then it occurred to me that the “white splat” could simply represent the Light within. I believe that Light spreads Light. It only takes one candle to lighten up a dark room; however, if one opens the door to a closet, the darkness from inside the closet doesn’t spill out into the room. It doesn’t work that way.

As a self-proclaimed Light-worker, I sometimes feel that this is lonely work. Pushing against the established status quo can feel draining. One day I was particularly feeling alone in the business of “spreading Light” and I received an image of a world wide web, similar to a huge fish net. Each of the knots in the four cornered squares in the fish net was a point of light. It reminded me that if I look around, I’ll notice other Light-workers who are also spreading Light. Perhaps each of us is a Light-worker and essentially we are spreading more light to ourselves, to others and to the planet as we practice and teach TCC.

After sharing with the audience my perspectives on the fly and bird poop, and the shadow and light I asked everyone to stand and choose a partner. They were instructed to face their partner with eyes closed and connect palm to palm with fingertips pointed up. One person (i.e., the leader) was instructed to initiate random moves with their hands in any direction while the other person (i.e., the follower) was told to simply feel the movement of their partner’s hands and stay connected palm to palm. After several minutes, each person was asked to switch roles so both had a chance to initiate and follow.

Were the leaders able to follow in the exercise? Were the followers able to lead? Were people resisting and creating disharmony or were they able to allow and cultivate a sense of harmony? People shared with their partners after the exercise was over as well as with the larger group. Some people realized the benefit of simply letting go and just being.

In summary, it’s all good when accepted. Blend rather than resist. Which leads me to the third image I had received.